EA011896B1 - System and method for applying accurate three-dimensional volume textures to arbitrary triangulated surfaces - Google Patents

Abstract

Systems and methods for displaying volume data on an arbitrary three-dimensional polygonal surface are disclosed. For each polygon in the polygonal surface, a two-dimensional texture tile is created and these texture tiles are combined to form texture atlases. Each texture atlas is allocated a specific amount of memory in a texture cache. Each polygon in the polygonal surface may be scan-converted and the resulting texels may be placed in the texture cache. Voxels that do not intersect any polygon in the polygonal surface may not be scan-converted. This method may result in reduced use of texture cache.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In some areas, it is useful to model real or machine-generated objects in three sizes. Modeling such objects is useful in many applications. For example, modeling subsurface structures of parts of the earth's crust is useful for locating oil fields, locating rock discharge lines, and other geological applications. Similarly, modeling parts of the human body is useful for medical training exercises, diagnostics, the implementation of distance surgery and other medical applications. Modeling machine-generated objects is useful for creating computer games, developing simulations of flight conditions, and other applications. There are other applications of three-dimensional modeling of real and machine-generated objects.

Some three-dimensional models represent an object as a three-dimensional matrix of points of information volume. Such a matrix, known as information volume, includes many information points, known as information volume points. Each point in the information volume can be called a volume pixel, also known as a voxel. A voxel is the smallest distinguishable three-dimensional element of a three-dimensional image. A voxel is similar to a pixel, but represents a three-dimensional volume, not a two-dimensional region. Each voxel represents a discrete sample of the three-dimensional part of the simulated object.

Each voxel in the information volume contains a unique set of coordinates (x, y, ζ) and one or more information values that represent the special property being studied. These information values can be illustrated on a scale (0-256), which corresponds to a special color code red, green, blue (BOB) and opacity value (A), which are obtained from measuring the values of the studied property. The measurement or value of a property corresponds to the part of the object that the voxel represents. This provides the ability to graphically represent the property being studied.

For example, in seismic or geological applications, seismic data is obtained by artificially generating sound waves and recording the arrival of these sound waves after they have been reflected from the subsurface rock formations with other physical properties. Then, an information volume representing a subsurface structure is created from the reflected sound waves or seismic data. In such an example, each voxel contains a data value representing a transmission wave (i.e., amplitude) from a reflected sound wave. The geological structure can be obtained from the displayed image of this information value. For example, the highest values of seismic amplitude data may be represented in red, slightly lower values of amplitude data may be represented in orange, and other values of amplitude data may be represented in different colors. Other color schemes are possible. This provides the ability to graphically represent seismic data.

Once the information volume has been presented, its contents can be displayed to users. The user can determine a three-dimensional surface contained in the volume, and a data display system displays voxels on that surface on a screen or other display medium. This enables the user to see voxels that are contained within the information volume.

One voxel mapping system on an arbitrary three-dimensional surface is known as a three-dimensional texture mapping. This technology is implemented in a raster processor of a hardware accelerator of computer graphics. This technology uses a special specialized memory, known as super-operative texture memory or texture memory, which is installed separately on the integrated circuit.

In this technology, super-operative memory texture is used as a buffer for information contained in the information volume. A block or part of the information volume is read in the super-operative memory of the texture, and the information in this block is used by the raster processor. Then the second block of the information volume is read in the super-operative memory of the texture and the second block is used by the raster processor. This process continues until the entire information volume becomes available to the raster processor, one block at a time through super-operative texture memory. In this case, the superoperative texture memory is used as a buffer for the information volume.

This technology has some characteristic properties that make it ineffective for special situations. For example, for information volumes that are large compared to the size of the available super-operative texture memory, the information volume must be divided into blocks and each block must be transferred to the super-operative texture memory. This problem is increasing,

- 1 011896 when the three-dimensional surface is small compared to the information volume.

Among other things, since this process operation uses a relatively large amount of super-operative texture memory, the amount of super-operative texture memory is limited for other graphic operations. This limits the performance of rendering (rendering) the object and limits the performance of other graphic operations.

There is a need, inter alia, for a technology for displaying the contents of an information volume on an arbitrary three-dimensional surface contained in a volume in which a reduced amount of superoperative texture memory is used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, an embodiment of the present invention to overcome these and other problems of the prior art relates to a method for applying a three-dimensional volumetric texture to a polygon. The method includes the steps of providing an information volume containing a plurality of points of information volume, providing a polygonal surface partially or fully contained in the information volume, the polygonal surface containing at least one polygon, creating a set of texture atlases, each texture atlas containing a two-dimensional layout of at least one polygon in a polygonal surface. The method also includes the steps of scanning conversion of each polygon based on the points of the information volume in the information volume and recording the results of the scanning conversion of each polygon into a memory segment allocated for a texture atlas containing a layout including a polygon.

In an additional aspect, the present invention includes a texture mosaic element having texture mosaic element sizes describing the size of a texture mosaic element and a representation of a polygon, the polygon being fully or partially contained in a three-dimensional information volume.

In yet a further aspect, the texture atlas includes dimensions describing the dimensions of the atlas and the representation of the polygon, the polygon being fully or partially contained in a three-dimensional information volume.

In yet another aspect, a memory segment comprises a plurality of texels (base blocks of textured graphics), the plurality of texels including one or more predefined texels of a polygon and one or more predefined texels of a non-polygon, where each texel of a polygon in a plurality of texels contains a value calculated based on the point of the information volume in the information volume, and every other texel is invalid.

In yet a further aspect, the present invention provides a system for applying a three-dimensional volume texture to a polygonal surface. The system comprises a super-operative texture memory configured to contain multiple texels and a memory configured to contain a polygonal surface and information volume, the polygonal surface containing one or more polygons, and the information volume containing one or more points of the information volume. The system also contains a control module configured to create a set of texture atlases, each texture atlas contains a two-dimensional layout of at least one polygon in a polygonal surface to allocate a segment of texture super-memory for each texture atlas, for scanning conversion of at least one polygon, creating accordingly, one or more texels, and for recording one or more texels resulting from the scanning transformation of each a polygon into a segment of texture super-memory allocated for a texture atlas containing a layout including a polygon.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like elements are indicated by like reference numbers and in which FIG. 1 is an illustration of a data volume and a three-dimensional surface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of applying bulk data to a surface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of texture mosaic elements in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a set of texture atlases in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a texture memory segment in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a polygon before and after a scan transform in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a system for applying a three-dimensional volumetric texture to a polygonal

- 2011896 surfaces in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for partitioning a polygon and creating texture mosaic elements in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the creation of a texture atlas in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed Description of Embodiments of the Present Invention

In FIG. 1 illustrates an information volume and a three-dimensional surface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The information volume 100 may be a three-dimensional model or include a three-dimensional model of a real or machine-generated object. The information volume 100 may be a three-dimensional matrix or include a three-dimensional matrix of points of information volume 102a-b.

Each of the information volume points 102a-b may contain one or more values that describe a specific part of the information volume 100. For example, each of the information volume points 102a-b may contain the coordinates x, y, ζ, which determine the location of a part of the information volume 100. Each of the points 102a-b of the information volume may additionally contain one or more information values corresponding to one or more characteristic properties. For example, each of the points 102a-b of the information volume may contain an information value corresponding to a seismic property, density, or some other property.

In one embodiment, each of the information volume points 102a-b may be a voxel or contain a voxel. Each voxel can be displayed as a combined color code and opacity value (NOVA), which are derived from a measurement or characteristic property value.

The information volume 100 can be limited in any coordinate system, for example, in a Cartesian coordinate system with a coordinate origin 104.

The polygonal surface 106 may be wholly or partially contained in the information volume 100. The polygonal surface 106 may be a two- or three-dimensional surface that is selected or defined by a user or computer. The polygonal surface 106 may be selected to allow the user to examine points of information volume 102a-b that divide the polygonal surface 106 into parts. The polygonal surface 106 may, in some applications, be selected to accurately or approximately simulate a naturally existing surface. For example, a polygonal surface 106 may be selected to simulate an interface between layers of the earth's crust.

The polygonal surface 106 may be limited by one or more polygons 108ab. Various methods are possible for describing each polygon. For example, each polygon can be limited to a set of vertices and edges. In one embodiment, the polygons 108a-b are triangles, and each of the polygons 108a-b is limited by the Cartesian coordinates of its vertices.

In FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of applying information volume to a surface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The method begins with step 200, in which an information volume 100 can be provided. This information volume 100 can be obtained from measurement data, for example, seismic data, or can be obtained otherwise.

At step 202, a polygonal surface 106 can be provided. The polygonal surface 106 can be defined by a user or a computer. The polygonal surface 106 may be selected to examine points of information volume 102a-b that divide the polygonal surface 106 into parts. The polygonal surface 106 may be selected to accurately or approximately simulate a naturally existing surface, or may be selected differently.

At step 204, the compressed indexing of the polygons 108a-b can be removed. In some embodiments, polygons 108a-b may be represented using a compressed indexing form, also called vertex indexing or triangulation. For example, each of the vertices 110a-b represents a vertex shared by two or more polygons. To remove this form of compressed indexing and establish a set of vertices that is unique for each polygon for separate identification, each vertex 110a-b is assigned a vertex number Up and a polygon number Pn. In this case, each polygon can be individually indexed in accordance with its own set of vertices. For example, a polygon bounded by vertices 110a-c will be represented by Yn = 0, 1, 2 and Pn = 0; a polygon bounded by vertices 110b will be represented by Yn = 0, 1, 2 and Pn = 1; and the polygon bounded by the vertices 110c-e will be represented by Yn = 0, 1, 2 and Pn = 2. Other methods of removing indexing and other forms of compressed indexing may be well known in the art and for this reason are not described in this application.

At step 206, polygons 108a-b can be split. This step can ensure that each polygon 108a-b in step 208 can fit into the texture tile. In one embodiment, the maximum tile size of the tile is determined.

- 3 011896 Waxing Texture. In this embodiment, some polygons cannot be inscribed on the largest allowable tile element of the texture. In this case, these polygons can be divided into smaller polygons that fit into the mosaic elements of a texture of acceptable size.

At 208, a texture tile may be created for each polygon 108a-6. Each texture mosaic element 300a-6 may include a two-dimensional matrix or represented by a two-dimensional matrix or other part of electronic memory, the size of which is determined to correspond to a particular polygon 108a-6. If a particular polygon 108a-6 is smaller than a predetermined size of the tile, then in one embodiment, each texture tile 300a-6 includes the smallest two-dimensional matrix that bounds the specific polygon 108a-6. In another embodiment, where the particular polygon 108a-6 is smaller than the predetermined size of the tile, each tile 300a-6 of the texture includes dimensions of a matrix that is large enough to limit the specific polygon 108a-6, but does not limit the physical matrix.

Each texture mosaic tile 300a-6 may contain information describing a particular corresponding polygon 108a-6. For example, each element of a texture mosaic may contain the coordinates (x, y, ζ) of the vertices for each corresponding polygon 108a-6 and a number (Pn) that identifies the polygon.

Each texture tile 300a-6 may also contain a number (Tn) that identifies the tile, a number (Ap) that identifies the texture atlas created in step 210, which is associated with the tile, coordinates (to ¹ ,! '), which identify the location of the tile in the texture atlas, coordinates (k,!) that identify the position of the tile in the reproduced image, and coordinates (x ¹ , y') that identify the zero point of the polygonal surface 106.

In step 210, texture mosaic elements 300a-6 may be combined to form one or more texture atlases. The texture atlases created at this stage are described with reference to FIG. 4. Each texture atlas 400a-c may be a two-dimensional layout or include a two-dimensional layout of the texture mosaic elements 300a-6. Each texture mosaic tile 300a-6 may be placed in a single texture atlas 400a-c. If there is no place in any existing texture atlas 400a-c, then a new texture atlas 400a-c can be created. In some embodiments, a user may determine a predetermined or maximum size for each texture atlas 400a-c.

In another embodiment, each texture atlas 400a-c may be a two-dimensional matrix or include a two-dimensional matrix or other type of electronic memory that is configured to limit one or more texture mosaic elements 300a-6. In yet another embodiment, each texture atlas 400a-c may contain information about how texture mosaic elements 300a-6 can be optimally positioned in a two-dimensional layout, including where each texture atlas 400a-c is located in the memory segment 500 described with reference to step 212. In this embodiment, it may not be necessary for texture atlases to contain sufficient physical memory to contain each texture mosaic element 300a-6.

Thus, as described, creating texture mosaic elements 300a-6 in steps 206 and 208 and creating texture atlases 400a-c in step 210 can be optimally implemented. This will reduce or minimize empty or unused space in texture mosaic elements 300a-6, texture atlases 400a-c, or texture elements and texture atlases. In this case, the available texture memory space is optimized using the above technology. Other well-known technologies may also be used, such as those described in Butte, Stalling, and Hege's article, “Fast Linear Integral Convolution of Arbitrary Surfaces in Three-Dimensional Space,” published in the 1997 issue of Visualization and Magnetism.

At step 212, a memory segment may be allocated for each texture atlas 400a-c. The memory segments allocated at this stage are described with reference to FIG. 5. The sizes of the memory segment 500 allocated to a particular texture atlas 400a may be equal to or proportional to the sizes of the texture atlas 400a. The memory segment 500 may include one or more texture memory segments or super-operative texture memory. Memory segments 500 may include a plurality of texels (texture elements) 502a-6. Texel is the basic unit of textured graphics, graphics that bound the surface of a three-dimensional object. Texels 502a-6 may be invisible texture units represented in memory segment 500. One or more texels 502a and 502b may correspond to a portion of texture atlas 400a that is wholly or partially bounded in polygon 1086. These texels 502a and 502b may be called texels of the polygon. One

- 4 011896 or more texels 502c may correspond to a portion of texture atlas 400a that is limited in texture tile 3006 but not limited to any polygon 108a-6. These texels can be called texels of the mosaic element. One or more texels 5026 that are neither texels of the polygon nor texels of the tile may be included in the memory segment 500. Since the information contained in the texture atlas and texture mosaic elements can be used to determine which of the texels in the memory segment are polygon texels, the polygon texels in memory segment 500 can be considered predefined.

At step 214, each polygon 108a-6 may be subjected to scanning transformation. The scanning polygon transform step is described with reference to FIG. 6. Scanning transformation is a process by which information values limited in the information volume 100 are displayed in texels. One or more points of the information volume 102a-6 in the information volume 100 can overlap (intersect) a particular polygon 1086. From the information limited at these points intersecting the information volume, texels 600a-6 are created that correspond to the points 102a-6 of the information volume. If points 102a-6 of the information volume include voxels, then these voxels can be displayed in the respective texels 600a-6 using a well-known mathematical technology called trilinear interpolation. Using this technology, each texel is determined by linearly weighing the eight voxels that are closest to the texel in the information volume 100. The texels 600a-6 that are created in the scanning transform can correspond to the texels 502a-b of the polygon that are contained in the memory segment 500. The placement of texture mosaic elements in each texture atlas and the placement of each texture atlas in a memory segment have not been established before this stage.

At step 216, the results of the scanning conversion can be recorded (recorded) in the segment 500 of the memory. This may include recording texels 600a-6 in texels 502a-b in memory segment 500. In one embodiment, each texel 600a-6 can be written to the corresponding texel 502a-b when it is created. In another embodiment, texels 600a-6 corresponding to a particular polygon 108a-6 can be created, and all texels 600a-6 for polygon 108a-6 can be written to memory segment 500. In another embodiment, texels 600a-6 corresponding to a particular atlas 400a-c of the structure can be created and recorded as a group, or all texels corresponding to all polygons 108a-6 can be created and written as a group.

The memory segment 500 may comprise one or more texels 502c-6 that are not polygon texels. These texels may not contain information that is useful in visualizing surface 106. For this reason, these texels may be considered invalid. In one embodiment, invalid texels 502c-6 may be empty texels, texels containing only the original values, or texels that are otherwise specifically marked invalid. In other embodiments, invalid texels may contain texel data, for example texel data from a previous surface visualization or other operation.

After all the polygon texels 502a-b for all the polygons in the polygonal surface 106 have been recorded in the memory segments 500, the memory segments 500 may contain the required information to display the information contained in the information volume 100 on the surface 106.

At step 218, these results can be displayed to the user. The contents of the memory segments 500 may be displayed by means of a cathode ray tube or other screen, may be printed, or may be reproduced differently.

This method can be implemented in connection with other systems and methods for graphically displaying information volume. For example, this method can be used in connection with a system for analysis and visualization of sets of three-dimensional information volume described in US patent application. System and method for analysis and visualization of three-dimensional sets of information volume, No. 09/119635, which is incorporated into this application by reference. In the practical use of the present invention in connection with such a device, a series of probes for sampling or user-defined surfaces can be created, profiled, dimensioned and interactively moved by the user in the entire three-dimensional set of information volume. The intersection of the sampling probe with the entire three-dimensional set of information volume is the texture displayed on the surfaces of the sampling probe, or the volume visualized with a varying degree of transparency in the sampling probe. For example, when the user moves the probe for sampling, for example, by clicking and dragging with the mouse, the user perceives the texture on the surfaces of the probe for sampling. In this case, the user can interactively move the probes for sampling through the entire three-dimensional volume and more simply and efficiently visualize and interpret the elements and physical parameters that are represented in the geographical space represented by a set of three-dimensional information volume.

In FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a system for applying a three-dimensional volume texture to a surface of a polygon in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. System 700 may include a super-operative texture memory 702 containing multiple texels 704. System 700 also includes memory 706, which may include a polygonal surface 106 and information volume 100. A polygonal surface 106 may be represented in memory 706 by a plurality of vertex coordinates describing many polygons 108a-b, or in some other way. The information volume 100 may be represented in memory 706 by a plurality of points of information volume 102a-b. Each of the points 102a-b of the information volume may or may include a voxel.

System 700 also includes a control module 708. The control module 708 may also be capable of executing machine-executable instructions. The control module 708 may include or reference computer-executable instructions 710. The computer-executable instructions 710 may be stored in the control module 708, in memory 706, or elsewhere. The control module 708 may execute machine-executable instructions 710 to perform various functions.

The control module 708 can be configured to perform various functions by executing machine-executable instructions 710. The control module 708 can be configured to remove compressed indexing from the polygonal surface 106, for example, by specifically representing each vertex of each polygon 108a-b in the polygonal surface 106. The control module 708 can also be configured to split those polygons 108a-b into a polygonal surface that are larger than the maximum allowable size of the mosaic element dimensional image.

The control unit 708 may also be configured to create a mosaic tile 300a-b for each polygon 108a-b bounded on the polygonal surface 106. The control unit 708 may store mosaic texture tiles 300a-b in a memory 706 or elsewhere. The control module 708 may be further configured to combine mosaic elements 300a-b in one or more texture atlases 400a-c. Control module 708 may store atlases 400a-c of texture in memory 706 or elsewhere.

The control module 708 may be further configured to allocate a segment 710a-s of super-operative texture memory 702 for each of the texture atlases 400a-c. The control unit 708 may also be configured to scan each polygon 108a-b in a polygonal surface 106 based on the information volume points 102a-b limited in the information volume 100. The scanning transformation may result in one or more texels that can be written to texels 704 super-memory 702 textures. The texels 704 recorded as a result of the scanning transform of a particular polygon 108a may be texels 704 that are limited to a segment 710a allocated to the texture atlas 400a that contains a layout including the polygon 108a.

The control module 708 may also be configured to display the results of the scanning conversion for the user through a cathode ray tube, another screen, printer, or other display.

In FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method for splitting a polygon and creating texture mosaic elements in accordance with the present invention. This method may be one implementation of steps 206 and 208 illustrated in FIG.

2.

The implementation of the method begins at step 800, in which a set of polygons can be created. The set of polygons can be represented by polygons 108a-b, which make up the polygonal surface 106. In one embodiment, the step 800 of creating a set of polygons can include removing the squeezed indexing in the representation of polygons 108a-b. In another embodiment, polygons may already be represented without compressed indexing.

At 802, a set of texture mosaic elements can be created. A set of texture mosaic elements may be configured to store one or more texture mosaic elements 300a-b. A set of texture tile elements may contain the maximum size of a texture tile element, which can be represented by its width and height. A set of texture mosaic elements may not contain any texture elements 300a-b when it is created.

At 804, a set of polygons is examined to determine if any unprocessed polygons 108a-b remain in the set of polygons. If the set of polygons does not contain one or more raw polygons, then the method is completed and the method ends at block 806.

If the set of polygons contains one or more raw polygons 108a-b, then at step 808, one of the raw polygons 108a-b is selected. At step 810, the polygon 108a-b is examined to determine if it matches the texture tile 300a-b of the maximum allowable size. If the polygon 108a-b does not correspond to the maximum allowable size texture tile 300a-b, then at 812

- 6 011896 polygon 108a-b can be divided. Partitioning can be any process by which several smaller polygons 108a-b are created, the union of which gives the original polygon 108a-b. In one embodiment, the polygon 108a-b is broken by halving the longest edge of the polygon 108a-b and by creating a new edge at the point of halving the vertices of the polygon 108a-b. In another embodiment, polygon 108a-b may be broken by degeneration of the center of gravity. This may include finding the center of gravity of polygon 108a-b and creating a new edge from each vertex of polygon 108a-b to the center of gravity.

At step 814, the polygons 108a-b resulting from the partition can be placed in a set of polygons. This can ensure that each of these polygons 108a-b is broken if necessary, and that a texture mosaic element 300a-b is created for each.

At 816, the original polygon 108a-b may be marked as processed. This may include, for example, setting a logical variable or other designation that polygon 108a-b has been studied. Texture mosaic element 300a-b need not be created for the original polygon 108a-b, since texture mosaic elements 300a-b for polygons 108a-b resulting from the partition will be created.

If it is determined at step 810 that the polygon under study will correspond to the maximum allowable size texture tile 300aά, then at step 818 a new texture tile 300a-b can be created. The texture mosaic element 300a-b that is created may include a polygon 108a-b or may contain information describing a polygon 108a-b. In one embodiment, the sizes of the texture mosaic element 300a-b may be selected to reduce the size of the texture mosaic element 300a-b, guaranteeing at the same time that the texture element 300a-b contains a polygon 108a-b. For example, in one embodiment, the texture tile 300a-b may be the smallest rectangular texture tile 300a-b that contains a polygon 108a-b.

At 820, a texture mosaic element 300a-b may be added to the texture mosaic elements set. This method then continues to block 816, where the polygon 108a-b is marked as processed. The method returns to step 804, where it is determined whether there are any unprocessed polygons 108a-b remaining in the set of polygons.

In FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method for creating a texture atlas in accordance with step 210 of FIG. 2. The implementation of the method begins at step 900, where a set of texture atlases can be created. A set of texture atlases can be configured to store one or more texture atlases 400a-c. A set of texture atlases can contain the maximum size of a texture atlas, which can be represented by width and height. The texture atlas set may not contain any texture atlases 400a-c when it is created.

At 902, a set of texture mosaic elements can be examined to determine if the raw texture mosaic elements 300a-b remained in the texture mosaic element set. The studied set of texture mosaic elements may be a set of texture mosaic elements created during the implementation of the method illustrated in FIG. 8. If the set of texture mosaic elements does not contain one or more raw texture mosaic elements 300a-b, then the implementation of the method is completed and the method ends at 904.

If the set of polygons contains one or more raw texture mosaic elements 300a-b, then at step 906 one of the raw texture mosaic elements 300a-b is selected. In step 908, the texture mosaic element 300a-b and a set of atlases are examined to determine whether the texture mosaic element 300a-b will correspond to any texture atlas 400a-c contained in the texture atlas set. If the texture mosaic element 300a-b does not correspond to any texture atlas 400a-c, then at step 910 a new texture atlas 400a-c can be created. The new texture atlas 400a-c can be placed in a set of texture atlases. In one embodiment, the empty space in the texture atlas 400a-c is represented by the empty texture elements 300a-b of the mosaic texture invention in the texture atlas 400a-c. These can be texture mosaic elements 300a-b that are specifically marked as empty. In this embodiment, one empty texture mosaic tile 300a-b of the dimensions of the texture atlas 400a-c can be inserted into the texture atlas 400a-c.

In step 912, the texture mosaic element 300a-b selected in step 906 can be inserted into the atlas 400a-c in the set of texture atlases. In one embodiment, the placement of the texture mosaic tile 300a-b can be optimized or otherwise optimized to reduce empty space in texture atlases 400a-c.

In one embodiment, the empty space in each texture atlas 400a-c is represented by empty texture mosaic elements 300a-b. In this embodiment, the element

- 7 011896

ZOOa-ά texture mosaic image, entered into the texture atlas, can be placed at the location of the empty element ZOOa-ά texture mosaic image, which is the least different from the area of the entered element ZOOa-ά texture mosaic image. As soon as the ZOOa-элемент element of the texture mosaic is entered, new empty ZOOa-ά elements of the texture mosaic can be created. These new empty ZOOa-ά texture mosaic elements can cover the atlas 4OOa-s texture atlas, which were previously covered by the empty ZOOa-ά texture mosaic element, but are not covered by the ZOOa-ά texture mosaic element that was entered. These new empty ZOOa-ά mosaic texture image elements can be placed at the location of the area difference between the entered ZOOa-ά texture mosaic image element and the empty ZOOa-ά texture mosaic element.

At step 914, the MOO-элемент element of the texture mosaic can be marked as processed. This may include, for example, setting a boolean variable or other designation that the ZOOa-элемент element of the texture mosaic was placed in a set of texture atlases. The method returns to step 9O2, where it is determined whether there are any unprocessed elements of the ZOOa-ά texture mosaic in the set of texture mosaic elements.

The above description of the present invention is illustrative, and modifications to its configuration and implementation will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, the steps may be combined or may be performed in any order. Although texture mosaic elements and texture atlases have been described as physical segments of electronic memory capable of containing one or more polygons, they are not necessarily contained in this memory. Texture mosaic elements or texture atlases may preferably include data defining sizes of a sufficient memory segment. Hardware, software, or other means described as singular may be distributed in the embodiments, and likewise, means in the embodiments described as distributed may be combined. It is intended that the scope of the present invention be limited only by the following claims.

Claims (27)

1. A method of displaying graphic data, wherein the graphic data contains at least one point (1O2) of the information volume in the information volume (1OO), the method comprising the following steps: creating a texture atlas, the texture atlas comprising a two-dimensional arrangement of at least one polygon (1O8) in a polygonal surface; scanning the conversion of at least one polygon (1O8) to form a corresponding texel (6OO) and writing each texel that overlaps the polygonal surface into a memory segment (5OO) for optional display. 2. The method according to claim 1, in which the information volume is the volume of seismic information containing at least one attribute of amplitude, phase, frequency, measure of similarity and coherence. 3. The method according to claim 1, additionally providing for the step of creating an element (ZOO) mosaic image texture. 4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the following steps: determination - whether at least one polygon (1O8) corresponds to a predetermined maximum size of the texture mosaic element; splitting at least one polygon (1O8) into a plurality of constituent polygons, if it does not correspond to the maximum size of the texture mosaic element; and marking at least one polygon (1O8) and each of the plurality of constituent polygons that correspond to the maximum size of the texture element. 5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising the step of creating a set of texture mosaic elements, the set of texture mosaic elements comprising a plurality of texture mosaic elements, said plurality of texture mosaic elements including said texture mosaic element, each of the set of elements of the mosaic image of the texture consists of at least one polygon (1O8) and said set of constituent elements angles. 6. The method according to claim 4, in which said at least one polygon (1O8), which does not correspond to the maximum size of the tile, contains the longest edge, the middle point on this longest edge and the vertex. 7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising the following steps: creating an edge between the midpoint and the apex and performing degeneration of the center of gravity. - 8 011896 8. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the following steps: determining whether each of the plurality of texture mosaic elements corresponds to a predetermined maximum texture atlas size; assigning each of the plurality of texture mosaic elements that correspond to the maximum size of the texture atlas to this texture atlas; assigning each of said plurality of texture mosaic elements that do not correspond to said maximum texture atlas size, a new texture atlas, and marking each of said plurality of texture mosaic elements that are assigned to said texture atlas and a new texture atlas. 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of comparing the size of the mosaic image element for each of the plurality of texture mosaic elements with a maximum texture atlas size, each of the plurality of texture mosaic elements assigned to the texture atlas and a new texture atlas, to minimize the difference between the collective size of the mosaic elements for the plurality of texture mosaic elements assigned to the texture atlas, and Maximum Feed texture atlas size and to minimize a difference between a collective tile size for the plurality of tile texture assigned new texture atlas and the maximum texture atlas size. 10. The method according to claim 1, in which Texel (600) is based on the corresponding point (102) of the information volume. 11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of processing a representation of at least one polygon (108), wherein the processed representation of said at least one polygon (108) comprises at least one vertex for that polygon. 12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of displaying at least a portion of the texel overlap (600) and the polygonal surface. 13. A system comprising a program storage device readable by a machine, the program storage device comprising a program of instructions executed by the machine to display graphic data, wherein the graphic data contains at least one point of the information volume in the information volume (100), and the instructions include the following stages: creating a texture atlas, the texture atlas comprising a two-dimensional arrangement of at least one polygon (108) in a polygonal surface; scanning the conversion of at least one polygon (108) to form a corresponding texel (600) and writing each texel that overlaps the polygonal surface into a memory segment (500) for optional display. 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the information volume is the volume of seismic information containing at least one attribute of amplitude, phase, frequency, similarity measure, and coherence. 15. The system according to item 13, in which the texture atlas contains an element (300) of the mosaic image of the texture. 16. The system of clause 15, further comprising the step of creating a set of texture mosaic elements, the set of texture mosaic elements (300) comprising said texture mosaic element (300) and another texture mosaic element. 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the texture atlas comprises at least one of said texture mosaic element (300) and another texture mosaic element. 18. The system of claim 17, further comprising the step of creating a set of texture atlases, wherein the set of texture atlases comprises said texture atlas and another texture atlas, wherein another texture atlas contains at least one of said tile (300) mosaic texture image and another mosaic texture element. 19. The system of claim 15, wherein the tile (300) of the texture mosaic contains a polygon. 20. The system of claim 13, wherein the texel (600) is based on a corresponding point in the information volume. 21. The system of claim 13, further comprising the step of processing a representation of at least one polygon (108), wherein the processed representation of said at least one polygon (108) comprises at least one vertex for that polygon. 22. A computer-readable medium having a data structure stored therein in the form of a texture atlas for use in overlaying a three-dimensional texture on a polygonal surface containing a texture mosaic element (300) containing a single number that distinguishes said texture mosaic element (300) from - 9 011896 other texture mosaic elements, coordinates that identify the location of the texture mosaic element (300) on the texture atlas, texture atlas size; the aspect ratio of the texture atlas and the coordinates that identify the position of the texture atlas in the memory segment (500) assigned to that texture atlas. 23. The medium of claim 22, wherein the texture mosaic tile (300) further comprises a polygon representation, wherein the polygon representation contains vertices, said vertices are at least partially contained in a three-dimensional information volume, a number that identifies said polygon ; item size a number that identifies the texture atlas that contains the element; and coordinates that identify the position of this element in the displayed image. 24. The medium of claim 23, wherein the information volume contains seismic data, said seismic data comprising at least one attribute of amplitude, phase, frequency, similarity measure, and coherence. 25. The medium according to item 23, in which the polygon is a triangle. 26. The media according to item 23, in which the representation of the polygon contains individual coordinates for each of the vertices. 27. The storage medium according to item 23, in which the segment (500) of the memory contains super-operative texture memory.